Dholavira: Venture back in time with a trip to India’s Unesco-listed Harappan City

Relics of the Indus Valley civilisation await travellers making the journey to the arid island of Khadir Bet

Dholavira in Gujarat offers otherworldly scenes. Photo: Evoke Dholivara

As the bus hurtles towards Dholavira, scenes from the famed Road to Heaven unfurl. This ribbon of asphalt cuts through the Rann of Kutch, a shimmering salt flat that is the second largest in the world. Trundling over the tarmac, as shades of white and grey blur into the horizon, I feel a sense of otherworldliness as I capture fleeting glimpses of this mesmerising landscape through my camera lens.

After three hours, the bus stops at Khadir Bet Island, home to the ancient Harappan City of Dholavira. Dubbed the most spectacular Indus Valley civilisation site and a Unesco World Heritage-recognised destination, lime-washed Dholavira is a dazzling land of wells, drains, water channels, houses, granaries, reservoirs and other remnants of a historic city.

This sprawling, 70-hectare site was painstakingly excavated by hundreds of Indian archaeologists and palaeontologists between 1989 and 2005. Discovered in 1968 by Jagat Pati Joshi, former director general of the Archaeological Survey of India, the place spans nearly 1,500 years of continued habitation. Once a relatively lesser-known tourist destination, the site found fame in the early 2000s when a festival called Rann Utsav was launched. This four-month annual cultural extravaganza runs from November to March, and invites tourists to enjoy a cultural immersion into the region’s heritage.

“The Rann Utsav has had a multiplier effect on Kutch’s tourism economy benefiting the artists and hospitality sector as well as tourists,” says Bhavik Sheth, chief operating officer of Evoke Experiences who hosts Rann Utsav. “The influx of tourists has sparked a wave of economic activity with a significant portion of the local population benefiting directly or indirectly. From setting up shops to working as guides and drivers, locals have found diverse opportunities to participate.

According to its Unesco recognition, Dholavira showcases the unique and masterpiece ingenuity of the Harappans during the third millennium BC.

“Locally known as Kotada Timba, meaning a large fort, Dholavira is named eponymously after a village some two kilometres away,” says local guide Iqbal Kumbhar. “It contains some of the most important remains of the Indus Valley civilisation, the other notable sites being Mohenjo-daro, Ganeriwala, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Rupanagar and Lothal. Alongside Lothal, Dholavira is the only site that marks its presence in all the stages of Harappan culture from 2900 to 1500 BC.”

History whispers from every corner of Dholavira, where thousands of secrets lie buried under dune-coloured depths. I’m struck by the city’s excellent planning, wide roads and detailed architecture crafted with geometric precision. Dams built on the Mansar and Manhar rivers, which once flowed around the city, represent how advanced the civilisation was. It's the same story when looking at the city's water conservation and harvesting systems, a series of interconnected reservoirs where stone and terracotta drainage pipes and wells display visionary craftsmanship.

“Dholavira’s resourceful residents were not only excellent architects and town planners, but also mindful of the environment, even back then,” says Kumbhar, before pointing out one of the world’s earliest and most complex water conservation systems, where people used to store rainwater.

Wandering towards the city's citadel, we negotiate a sharp gradient before arriving at the town built with sun-dried brick and stone masonry. Stairways lead to an underground drainage system, created for sanitation. Up ahead is a gargantuan amphitheatre where there are 10 large-scale inscriptions carved in Indus Valley script. These are yet to be deciphered.

As my tour of this ancient destination concludes, I head to the on-site archaeological museum filled with relics of the Indus Valley civilisation. Everyday objects such as fish hooks, tools, urns, animal figurines, pottery and well kitchen vessels are displayed here. There are also pieces of jewellery, children's toys and carved figurines. Some exhibits in the museum point to the existence of interregional trade, as well as connections with Mesopotamia and the Oman peninsula. The Silk Road passed through this very region, creating a crossroads of cultures rich in history and artefacts.

Its enormous historic salience notwithstanding, there’s more to Dholavira than just ruins and fossils. As afternoon turns to evening, I watch the burnished sun setting over the white Rann plains, the sky changing colour from fiery orange to russet, amber and crimson. A flock of pink flamingos emerges into the frame, as if fluttering in from nowhere and adding one more special touch to the magic of the moment.